Federal Telehealth Waivers Extended in Early 2026
In the first couple months of 2026, there have been two major extensions of federal telehealth policy waivers. Read on to get the key details on what flexibilities are being extended for telemedicine providers.
Controlled Prescription Telehealth Waiver
At the end of 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released their fourth extension of a waiver allowing controlled substances to be prescribed via telehealth without a prior in-person visit or meeting one of the existing statutory exceptions. This is a clean, one-year extension without any new requirements. This waiver lasts from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026.
The telemedicine prescribing flexibilities were first introduced during the COVID pandemic, but have continued to be extended since then. “Telehealth prescribing flexibilities have become a lifeline for millions of Americans,” stated HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, continuing to explain that these waivers have been extended to provide more time to develop permanent policies that still ensure healthcare accessibility and safety for patients. Additionally, providers and patients will be notified about new policies well before they are implemented, “allow[ing] sufficient time for providers to come into compliance with any new DEA registration, recordkeeping, or security requirements eventually adopted in a final set of regulations.”
While the prescribing flexibility was initially intended for patients and providers wanting to avoid contagion, they have extended healthcare access to millions of Americans who are rural, disabled, struggling to find childcare, or otherwise unable to travel to a doctor’s office. Returning to pre-COVID prescribing restrictions would require telemedicine providers to examine patients in-person before prescribing a controlled substance, and millions of Americans on controlled medication will have to reconsider how they access healthcare.
See Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 247 for more information about the DEA’s Controlled Prescription Telemedicine Waiver.
Medicare Waiver Extension
The COVID pandemic also prompted waivers in telehealth care for Medicare patients. The new Medicare flexibilities removed geographic restrictions and broadened the range of specialists and types of care reimbursable via telehealth.
On January 30th, 2026, the Medicare waivers allowing for telehealth flexibility expired and the government was plunged into a partial shutdown. After days of deliberation, Congress passed H.R. 7148, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 and a two-year extension was formally signed into law. Through December 31st, 2027, this extension will continue to permit more Medicare patients to receive more types of care through telehealth, compared to pre-COVID.
The Center for Connected Health Policy specified the waivers that have been extended:
- Waiver of location requirements (both geographic and type of site)
- Expanded list of eligible telehealth providers
- Continued eligibility of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) as telehealth providers
- Delay of the prior in-person visit requirement for mental health services when certain permanent telehealth policy requirements are not met
- Delay of the prior in-person visit requirement for mental health services delivered via telecommunications technology for FQHCs and RHCs
- Continued allowance of audio-only telehealth services
- Continued use of telehealth to conduct face-to-face encounters for hospice recertification
In order to reflect these renewed policies and new expiration dates, CMS has also updated their Telehealth FAQ page, viewable here. Providers should also look to Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) Medicare Learning Network (MLN) Guidance as a primary source of information, although this is not yet updated to reflect the most recent policy changes.
See H.R.7148 – Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 for more information on the extension of the Medicare waivers.
